|
Mr.Maru: How are you today?
Sparky: I'm great. I want to quickly finish my homework.
Mr.Maru: You mean 'quickly to finish my homework'?
Sparky: Oh, yeah, ok. Then, can you help me to clean my room?
Mr. Maru: Sure. I'll help you clean your room.
Sparky: Ok, then can you let me to watch my favorite TV show tonight?
Mr.Maru: Sure, I'll let you watch your favorite TV show.
Having trouble with the to infinitive? There are some simple rules for using the to infinitive. Let's talk about some examples and some of those rules.
 To boldly split infinitives or not
There is an old rule in advanced English grammar that says you can not split an infinitive. For example,\
X The boy began to slowly read the book. (The infinitive 'to read' is split by the adverb 'slowly'.)
O 'The boy began slowly to read the book.' or 'the boy began to read the book slowly.' are both correct.
Most people do not follow this rule, so spiting an infinitive is okay in casual speech or writing. However, if it is formal speech or writing, you should not split infinitives because some people think this is bad grammar.
 Bare infinitives or Lonely to infinitives
When we use to infinitives, we usually put 'to' before the plain form or dictionary form of the verb to make the to infinitive (e.g. to eat, to read, to sleep). This 'to' is not a preposition. These infinitives without the 'to' are sometimes called bare infinitives. We use them with some special words in the English language. For example with help and let,
I helped him tie his shoes. NOT: I helped him to tie his shoes.
His father let him play video games. NOT: His father let him to play video games.
Some other common verbs that use bare infinitives are: do, make, have, bid, watch, see, hear, feel, sense or with why. For example,
What he did was (to) push the red button then the blue button.
They watched the guards to run by.
Why to wait for summer? Enjoy the beach now in Hawaii. It's warm and beautiful!
Are you ready for a quiz?
1) His parents _________ play video games.
A) asked him
B) let him to
C) let him
2) All he did was __________.
A) email his girlfriend at work
B) to email his girlfriend at work
C) to emailing his girlfriend at work
3) General Manager: We need _____________ our sales.
A) to quickly improve
B) quickly to improve
C) to improve quickly
Answers
1) C) – We do not need 'to' with 'let'.
2) A) – We do not need 'to' with 'do'.
3) B) – In formal speech, it is better to not split infinitives.
Thanks for stopping by. If you have a question, please email us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Trackback(0)
Comments 
Write comment
 |
Teacher Stumpers 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
